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South Bullion Deposit

Prospect in Elko county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Arsenic, Antimony, Mercury, Thallium, Molybdenum
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Ownership information
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10097326
MRDS ID RE00045
Record type Site
Current site name South Bullion Deposit

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -115.99702, 40.45908 (WGS84)
Elevation 2195
Relative position 30 KM SOUTH OF CARLIN, NV.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Elko(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Robinson Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Ruby Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Elko(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Pine(hydrologic unit)

Humboldt(hydrologic accounting unit)

Black Rock Desert-Humboldt(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Elko

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 30N 53E 27 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATED ON THE WEST FLANK OF THE PINON RANGE. THE SOUTH BULLION DEPOSIT IS THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF A SINGLE HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEM, THE NORTHERN PORTION OF WHICH IS THE TROUT CREEK DEPOSIT (RECORD #RE00044). THE PROPERTY BOUNDARY BETWEEN TROUT CREEK AND SOUTH BULLION DEPOSITS IS THE SECTION LINE BETWEEN SECTIONS 22 AND 27, T30N, R53E.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary
Antimony Critical Tertiary
Mercury Tertiary
Thallium Tertiary
Molybdenum Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Jarosite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Stibnite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification, Decalcification, Liesegang Banding, Argillization. See Geology Comments.

Analytical data

Result PATHFINDER ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH AU INCLUDE AS (TO 2600 PPM), AG (TO 49 PPM), SB (TO 1190 PPM), HG (TO 7 PPM), TL (TO 14 PPM), AND MO (TO 17 PPM). AU HAS A WEAK ASSOCIATION WITH BASE METALS AND CALCITE.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 172
USGS model code 26a
Deposit model name Carbonate-hosted Au-Ag
Mark3 model number 15

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Mudstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mississippian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mississippian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
    Rock unit name Webb Formation
    Rock description Webb Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.99702, 40.45908
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description N-Trending Anticline That Forms The Crest Of The Pinon Range.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Numerous High-Angle, Generally West-Dipping, N25w Oriented Faults.

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR

Comments on the geologic information

  • ALTERATION COMMENTS: SILICIFICATION, DECALCIFICATION, ARGILLIZATION. GOLD MINERALIZATION IS INTIMATELY RELATED, BOTH TEMPORALLY AND SPATIALLY, TO SILICIFICATION OF THE WEBB FORMATION. SILICIFICATION OF THE WEBB FORMATION HAS RESULTED IN 1) REPLACEMENT OF PRIMARY CALCAREOUS MATERIAL BY AUTHIGENIC QUARTZ, FORMING THE MAJOR PORTION OF THE FINE GRAINED JASPEROID, 2) DEVELOPMENT OF QUARTZ OVERGROWTHS, SOME OF WHICH ARE MULTIPLE OVERGROWTHS, 3) THE IN-FILLING OF FRACTURES AND VUGS BY COARSE ANHEDRAL AND EUHEDRAL QUARTZ, AND 4) PERVASIVE SILICA FLOODING ALONG ZONES OF INDUCED SECONDARY POROSITY AND PERMEABILITY. PORTIONS OF THE WEBB FORMATION AND DEVILS GATE LIMESTONE ARE DECALCIFIED IN AN ENVELOPE TO THE JASPEROID. AN UNSILICIFIED PORTION OF THE WEBB FORMATION THAT DIRECTLY OVERLIES THE JASPEROID CONTAINS NUMEROUS FINE CALCITE VEINLETS; A SIMILAR ZONE OCCURS DIRECTLY BELOW THE JASPEROID AND IS CHARACTERIZED BY MASSIVE VEIN- AND CAVITY-FILLING SPARRY CALCITE. WEAK ARGILLIC ALTERATION IS
  • SUGGESTED BY THE PRESENCE OF DISPERSED HYDROTHERMAL CLAYS WITHIN THE WEBB FORMATION AND THE CHAINMAN SHALE AT BOTH THE LOCAL AND DISTRICT SCALES. DUE TO THE REGIONAL EXTENT OF THE CLAYS, AS CONTRASTED TO THE LIMITED AREA OF GOLD MINERALIZATION, THE GOLD IS THOUGHT TO NOT NECESSARILY BE TEMPORALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WEAK ARGILLIZATION EVENT. GEOLOGY COMMENTS: THE DEPOSIT LIES WITHIN THE PINON RANGE WHICH OCCURS WITHIN THE NARROW N-S TRENDING BELT WHICH COINCIDES WITH THE POSITION OF THE PALEOZOIC CONTINENTAL MARGIN.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discoverer Newmont Exploration Ltd.

Mining district

District name Bullion; Railroad; Carlin Trend

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Newmont Exploration, Ltd.

Comments on development

  • SUCCESSFUL DRILLING AT THE RAIN DEPOSIT IN 1980 SPURRED NEWMONT'S EXPLORATION ACTIVITY ELSEWHERE IN THE PINON RANGE, BEGINNING WITH A REGIONAL STREAM SEDIMENT GEOCHEMICAL SAMPLING PROGRAM. NUMEROUS GEOCHEMICAL ANOMALIES WERE IDENTIFIED, ONE OF WHICH WAS SOURCED UP THE TROUT CREEK DRAINAGE. FOLLOW-UP PROSPECTING IDENTIFIED BARITIC, JASPEROIDAL WEBB FORMATION IN SEC. 21 AT WHAT WOULD COME TO BE IDENTIFIED AS THE TROUT CREEK DEPOSIT (RECORD #RE00044). DURING 1980, NEWMONT LOCATED CLAIMS IN SECTIONS 20 AND 28, AND IN 1982 COMPLETED 19 REVERSE CIRCULATION DRILL HOLES WITHIN SEC. 20. THE BEST INTERCEPT WAS 1.5 METERS/0.02 OPT AU IN REALGAR- AND ORPIMENT-BEARING CHAINMAN SHALE FROM HOLE NSB-15. THE TARGETED WEBB FORMATION WAS NOT INTERSECTED IN ANY OF THESE HOLES, AND NEWMONT CONTROL OF THE PROPERTIES WAS RELINQUISHED. DURING LATE 1986, NEWMONT RECOGNIZED POTENTIAL DOWNDIP FROM THE TROUT CREEK DEPOSIT IN SEC. 27 AND ACQUISITION OF SURFACE AND MINERAL RIGHTS BEGAN THERE IN 1987. A 7 HOLE
  • DRILLING PROGRAM IN LATE 1987 INTERSECTED STRONGLY MINERALIZED WEBB FORMATION AT SHALLOW DEPTH. AN ADDITIONAL 41 HOLES WERE DRILLED ON APPROXIMATELY 122 M CENTERS IN 1988. WITH ADDITIONAL DRILLING IN 1989, A TOTAL OF 65 REVERSE CIRCULATION DRILL HOLES HAD BEEN COMPLETED THROUGH THAT YEAR, IDENTIFYING A DRILL-INFERRED GEOLOGIC RESOURCE TOTALLING APPROXIMATELY 20 MILLION SHORT TONS AVERAGING 0,026 OPT AU.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Analytical Data

    PUTNAM, B. R., AND HENRIQUES, E. Q. B., 1991, GEOLOGY AND MINERALIZATION AT THE SOUTH BULLION DEPOSIT, PINON RANGE, ELKO COUNTY, NEVADA: IMPLICATIONS FOR WESTERN UNITED STATES CENOZOIC TECTONICS, IN RAINES, G. L., ET AL, EDS., GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE GREAT BASIN, THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEVADA, RENO, P. 713-728.

  • Deposit

    PUTNAM, B. R., AND HENRIQUES, E. Q. B., 1991, GEOLOGY AND MINERALIZATION AT THE SOUTH BULLION DEPOSIT, PINON RANGE, ELKO COUNTY, NEVADA: IMPLICATIONS FOR WESTERN UNITED STATES CENOZOIC TECTONICS, IN RAINES, G. L., ET AL, EDS., GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE GREAT BASIN, THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEVADA, RENO, P. 713-728

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1992 Phinisey, J. D. (Marcus, S.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Nevada resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.